Self-centering roller-bearing.



0. T. GREGG. SELF ENTERING ROLLER'BEARING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 2, 1914.

1 ,246,589. I Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

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' primarily to be secured upontrucks ofcane;

specification. W

'Thefdevices of this inventlon are lntended:

owls-menses, or nac xnnsacx', New JERSEY, nssmnoaro hon-memes COMPANY, mmrsp, or nswnunen, new roan, -A coaronmronor. new mm; 1

- sets-enumerate aonrinnr'nnmmof Be it known that I, r first the UnitedStates, and a'resident of treyillage ofaHa'ckensack, county ofBergenyand' State .of-New J erse (whose post- Roller-Bearings, which in- Self-Centerin fly set'forthin the following Vention is fu cd-rgorthe like, toact. as sideebearings for tlie' bolsters, but may be employed as antidriction bearings'in other locations Broadly; the invention comprises a fio at-= "ing? (or iinpivoted) roller intcombinatlonwith meansfor normally maintaining the roller in intermediate or other predeten mined position in its.'pathway,-.such means j consisting'preferably of a rocking-member that rocks 'likeithej rockers 'ot rocking;

chair; and one object of :the invention is to restore the roller-to its intermediatefor normal position, without raisin or loweringthe 1eve1 of the roller. Anotli v the invention consists of a-suitable housing.

er feature of ,L'And the inventionflcornprises also various features of construction 1 and arrangement Q.

hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Theiinvention maybe embodied in vari' cus -forms, but .for convenience one preo ferredembodiment will be described 1n coni nection' with the accompanying drawings. j

as Y

In these drawings Figu re lisan end view of a truck and bolster provided with two of the new self centering roller-bearings;

vertical section taken longitudina Fig. 3 is a vvertical section taken through the 1 1 I I-I I of Fig. 2.

Referring firs to Fig. 1, 1 represents the tr ubck-beam, upon which is pivoted-the bolster 2, as Jewell understood. At each is @1 1. re

ion' a much" largenscal'e a.

ly through i ."one o' f thepreferred embodiments' of t e device'; and

.upon a curving trackfi one of t to roll to and-fro over the rocker 5 which latter is. adapted 'to roll to-and-fro upon an iever-sliiftedfulcrum like the rockers of a rockigig'hhairg Itwill befurther understood that if tilie roller should happen to bev on eitherendof the rocker the weight and leverage of the other end thereof would tend to restore the roller to the normal intermediate position indicated in Fig. 2.

To guide and limit the movements of the roller and rocker, it is preferable to have some form of suitable housing, such as 3, whose sides may be out away as at 6, to leave the, vertical margins 7; while in the top of the housing is a.longitudina1 slot, to receive the roller, defined on-each side by the overhanging lips- 83; At one end of the housingis ,an opening-9 for permitting end- Wise. ins'ertion ;of the rocker.

inserted from the top, through: the longi tudinal .slot referred to,. until its center is below the margin -7, whereupon the transverse pin .10 is insertedthrough a hole in its centergfthen the rocker 5 is introduced throughthe end-opening 9, after which if The floor of i i necessary 'a sufiicierrt number of. spacingplates may be similarly inserted beneath the rocker. Thereby therollcr is raised into the operative positio'n indicat'ed in the drawings, with the projecting ends of its pin 10 lying just beneath the horizontal lips 8 and terminating adjacent the side-margins 7', while its own peripheryis exposed above the level of the top of thehousingi Spacing platesvll may he introduced under rocker 5 or other adjusting means employed to eflect any desired adjustment of the height of'the roller 4. The opening 9 may be closed by any suitable means, asa stout transverse bolt 12' passed through suitable holes in the sides 0 the housin and secured in place 'ajcotter-pin 13. t he. housing may be'ses cured upon the truck (or other desired-hope tion) by means of screws or bolts through flanged feet 14; The operation of the device'is obviof When the car turns in eitherdirertflone Pa e ployed, without raising or lowerin the level of the roller; but when the b sters no longer contact with their rollers, each balanced rocker tends to restore its roller to 5 its normal intermediate position, or to restore it if any joltinghas displaeed'it. Should a pivoted roller be employed, there liable to be considerable rubbing ,(and consequent friction) o its'spindle and of the bearing therefor, nd the spindle itself "is liableto be broke When, however, the o iloatin roller ofi the present invention empoyed, there-is no rubbing-action 'Le'ither between the roller-and .the surface which supports itor between theroller and the surface which bears upon it' hence friction is very greatly reduced and the life of the device iszprolo ed.

Again, should suc floating roller be emgo 'loyed uponan ordinary flat pathway, it is liable to be jolted to one end or the other of pathway; whereas it should normally rei'nain t an'intermediate position (beneath .jWhen, howeverythe rocker 5 iisernployedyifthe roller should be jolted toward one end thereof, the gravit and levere of the other end of the roc er tends to t'eistorethe roller to its normal intermediate position It will be ,understood'that various forms pfffhousingvare available, and indeed that a fljfhousing may be dispensed with so long as suitable means aye employed to guide and limit the movements of the roller and the rocker. It will further .be understood that the rocker need not be of the exact shape in dicated, audits contour might consist of broken lines rather than a continuous curve as shown. Again, the. drawin 'show only in place (as by the detachable "transverse pin 10 cooper.v i gwith the side-mar s 7 a ip alt slas -m n h r exp ems might be the. som

pnienparticular manner of securing-the roller m c i 10 )jto hold the ocrg mijfl'djlevel and some.

amps:

- prising a housing having at its top a longitudinal slot defined by overhanging lips and down-turned marginal sides, said housing having an opening at one end, a concavoconvex rocker. adapted to rock lon itudi nally in said housing, a roller located in said slot and resting freely upon said rocker and carrying centrally a detachable pin whose ends lie beneath said lips and terminate adjacent said marginal sides, a plurality of spacing-plates beneath said rocker, and a etachable pin constituting a gate for closing said 0 en-ing.

'2, A se f-centering roller-bearing, comprising a housing having at its top a longitudinal slot defined by overhanging lips and down turned marginal sides, said housing having anopening at oneend, a con cavo-convex rocker adapted to rock longitudinall y in said housing, a roller located in said slot andiresting freely upon said rocker and carrying centrally a detachable pin whose ends liebeneath said lips and terminate adjacent said marginal sides, and a detachable pin constituting a gate for 010sing said opening. I

In testimony whereof I havesignd this specification in the; presence of twosubs'orib-Y ing witnesses. I

- a OTIS ,T- GRE G Witness'es: 1 Tabs. THoMsnN, s-Q v .Eann W. Fan-mains; 

